Disclaimer: NCIS and its characters do not belong to me and I am making no money from this.
Many thanks to Mr VP for the Beta. Any remaining mistakes are mine.
AN Thank you so much for the reviews, they are really encouraging to receive.
Gibbs bit down on his frustration as the intercom was repeatedly ignored and opted to speak first instead. He knew that DiNozzo would back any play he made without question and ruthlessly pushed down the little voice that kept repeating 'but maybe he can't.' Damn gut. Pressing more firmly than he needed he keyed the intercom and spoke calmly, all trace of his inner turmoil hidden. "We need to speak to you," he began. "You must have something you need from us."
The wait seemed interminable but finally he was answered. Allowing himself a slight smile he listened carefully.
"We have no need to talk to you Gibbs, we hold all the cards."
Gibbs? Gibbs breathing quickened, there was only one way they could know his name. "I want to speak to my man," he demanded.
"You are in no position to be making demands," the voice rejoined coldly, "besides your man is in no position to answer you."
Gibbs' hands clenched into fists but his voice was calm when he replied. "I speak to DiNozzo or this goes no further." Looking over at the XO he queried. "You know who it is?"
"I think it may be Michaels, hard to be certain, sounds like he's wearing breathing apparatus."
Gibbs nodded; hardly surprising they would have had to use something to subdue the crew trying to open the hatch. Stun grenades would be top of the list. "How well do you know him?" he asked.
"Not well, keeps to himself, but I'd never have pegged him for something like this, traitorous bastard."
Gibbs snorted. "You weren't meant to he was probably planted years ago. It's my guess he's not a traitor at all."
"Who do you think he's working for?"
"Hard to tell for sure," Gibbs mused, "but this whole operation has been meticulously planned. Somewhere in the Eastern block probably."
The intercom crackled again interrupting him. "You can have thirty seconds," the man spoke without inflection but Gibbs thought he caught a hint of unease, as he said, he held all the cards. Jethro listened carefully to the slight rustling coming over the speaker before DiNozzo spoke. The pain in the younger man's voice was obvious to Gibbs but he suspected that no one else would have noticed.
"Bossman."
"You ok DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.
"Never better Sir, Ari here is being real friendly."
"Everyone else?"
"Kinda like the second page of McGee's book" DiNozzo suddenly grunted in pain as the intercom was switched off.
Gibbs just heard a muffled "Enough" as the line was cut. He mentally applauded his agent as he took stock. "DiNozzo thinks we are talking to the man in charge," he said out loud.
"How do you know?" the XO queried.
"He always calls me Boss, never Bossman or Sir," Gibbs explained. "He's also injured, the Bossman, I think, has done something to his shoulder." At the XO's incredulous look he explained quickly. "Ari was a terrorist who liked to shoot people in the shoulder, no shots so they may be armed with knives. There are two of them," he continued slowly as he sorted his thoughts, "and six hostages."
"How on Earth…?"
"McGee's book is called 'Deep Six'," Gibbs interrupted impatiently, grabbing an overhead support as Surreptitious lurched again.
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DiNozzo eased back against the bulkhead and took as deep a breath as his throbbing shoulder would allow. Blood seeped through his fingers as he pressed against the wound, glaring balefully at the man in front of him. The 'Bossman's' eyes were cold behind his mask and he turned away without a word. Tony closed his eyes and prayed that Gibbs had understood. He wished he could have told him more though, truth to tell, there was little enough to add.
"Are you alright Sir?" a whispered voice to his left brought his eyes open and he looked into the worried face of the young seaman.
"Fine," he whispered back. "Our friend was just making a point," he grimaced at the unintentional pun whilst pushing harder in an attempt to stem the flow of blood from his shoulder. The combat knife had been driven deep though he didn't think it had caught any major blood vessels; there wasn't enough blood for that. He turned his head again at a movement. The seaman was pulling his shirt lose from his pants and proceeded to tear it into strips. The Bossman looked pointedly at him but said nothing so the young man continued until he had a handful of cloth which he offered to DiNozzo.
Tony took his hand away from his shoulder indicating that the seaman should apply the dressing. He quickly tucked it beneath DiNozzo's undershirt which he used to hold it in place as far as possible. "Thanks" Tony smiled at him, leaning back again, trying to brace himself against the almost continual rolling. Clearly the storm had hit, Surreptitious was foundering in the water, a situation that was unlikely to improve unless they could get under power.
"Surreptitious doesn't like the storm Sir," the seaman's voice held an edge and DiNozzo looked back over at him. The kid was doing well but there was no substitute for experience.
"Tony," he said, looking into the young man's eyes.
"Sir?"
"Not Sir, Tony," DiNozzo raised his eyebrows in mute question.
"Jack, Jack Williams"
"Pleased to meet you Jack," he broke off at a look from Bossman who, very deliberately, looked down at the knife he held in his hand. The knife already stained with DiNozzo's blood. Tony returned the stare evenly but kept still, there was nothing to be gained from false heroics. Instead he closed his eyes again and tried to think.
Bossman suddenly put his hand to his ear and braced himself. DiNozzo caught the movement and opened his eyes but he had no time to wonder what was going on as alarms sounded and Surreptitious began submerging. He braced his feet against the deck as best he could but found himself sliding towards Williams. The submariner had picked up immediately on what to expect and was able to support both of them until Surreptitious evened out again.
Tony felt a flash of triumph as he realised that Bossman must indeed have an accomplice in the engine room. He had been waiting for whatever message he had just received through his earpiece, another reason for the breathing apparatus. Immediately the motion of the boat became smoother as Surreptitious was able to ride out the storm at depth. He tried to take stock; obviously the boat was being controlled from the engine room but he didn't think that they would be able to hide everything from the control room. Captain Root and Gibbs would surely have some idea of where they were heading. The question was, could they do anything about it?
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Gibbs looked across at the Petty Officer who was acting as runner from the control room. "Anything?" he asked.
"Assuming the readings are accurate Sir we are heading west by south west into thousands of square miles of open water."
"Any sign of surface vessels or another submarine for that matter?" the XO spoke up.
"Captain Root says that sonar is showing clear Sir."
"Thanks PO," the XO acknowledged before turning to Gibbs. "Why do I get the feeling that the 'Bossman' will be even less likely to speak to us now than before?"
Gibbs just looked at him, eyes glazed in thought.
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"Come on McGee," Abby hit his arm impatiently as they worked together in her lab. The finger prints and searches on the bodies of the two cadets had been unsuccessful and they were now running in depth searches on Surreptitious' crew. The authorities had not been forthcoming with information but McGee had justified hacking into their computer network on the basis that Gibbs would need the information and wasn't there to ask. 'Better to ask forgiveness than to seek permission.' He knew it was one of Gibbs' rules though for the life of him couldn't remember which one.
All of the crew had been thoroughly vetted prior to joining the navy's newest experimental submarine. Each had unblemished service records yet they knew that Stevenson had been compromised through his son so they dug deeper.
"Is there any chance of a substitution?" Ducky had entered the lab and moved over to look at their results. "It's happened before as you recall."
"No way to know for sure Duckman," Abby replied. "We've not been able to find any photos of the crew from their time on board Surreptitious so, no comparisons."
"Sometimes being too secretive can leave one open to infiltration," the elderly ME mused.
"How so Ducky?" queried McGee.
"Well, if the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is up to Timothy," Mallard began.
"Then the right hand could be doing something behind the left hand's back so to speak."
"Exactly," Ducky nodded his head. "Where are you starting?"
"With the officers as it's likely they would have more chance to influence and control," Abby put in.
"If you're looking to control a submarine my dear, where would you start?" Mallard reasoned.
"Ultimately in the engine room," McGee began, "but they're all dead." Slowly he looked up, a gleam in his eye and together they chorused, "Never assume," before setting to work with renewed vigour.
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After repeated attempts to regain contact with Bossman had failed Gibbs had left the XO monitoring the situation and gone to consult with Root. The two had returned to his cabin adjacent to the control room.
"What I can't figure out is who could be involved," Root mused.
"China, Russia, Korea," Gibbs suggested, knowing that through tossing ideas about they may come up with some answers.
"We're in International waters," Root reasoned. "Even if engineering is tampering with our readings there hasn't been time to leave them. We're not travelling at maximum revolutions either."
Gibbs nodded, acknowledging the captain's experience.
"Any attack in these waters would result in an international incident, maybe escalate into another Cold War," Root continued thinking aloud.
Gibbs nodded again. "Only if there were any witnesses."
The captain paled. "You don't think," he began.
"Crews have been made to disappear before Captain," Gibbs interrupted. "We have to be realistic if we're going to come up with a counter attack."
"You're right of course," Root said quietly. "What about terrorists?"
"Can't rule 'em out," Gibbs agreed. "Are your warheads armed?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Then Captain, I suggest we'd better not let them fall into the wrong hands."
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DiNozzo sat up suddenly and cursed as he realised he'd fallen asleep. He rubbed his shoulder, using it as an excuse to change his position slightly and look around. Bossman was leaning with one leg braced against the bulkhead and his partner was at the other end of the compartment, both seemed alert, their eyes tracking every movement. The only sound was the thrumming of the engines. Tony hadn't the experience to tell how fast they were going but to his ears the revs seemed steady rather than overly speedy. It seemed likely that the saboteurs would want to protect their investment and she did have damaged plating after all.
He tucked his arm inside his jacket on the pretext of supporting his shoulder whilst surreptitiously reaching for his cell. He had no idea how deep they were but knew that given half a chance Abby would pick up his GPS signal if they came to the surface. Come to that perhaps she could get somewhere with satellite searches, he hoped that she thought to get in touch with her friend at NASA. Who was he kidding, this was Abby he was thinking about, she was bound to be way ahead of him. He looked around again, wondering whether or not to try and get Bossman talking again but as he met the man's eyes through his mask he recognised the futility of such an action even before Bossman looked deliberately from the knife in his hand to Seaman Williams beside him. This was no John Stevenson out for revenge on a controlling father; this was a cold blooded killer. Tony wasn't sure what motivated the man but it was obviously deep seated, probably a result of long held training or beliefs. Unknowingly his thoughts mirrored those of Gibbs and the captain as he tried to decide the most likely culprits behind the attack on Surreptitious. There were many groups and countries who would benefit from having such power within their grasp but few who could put together such a well co-ordinated operation. The question now was what could they do to stop them?
TBC